President Obama delivers his State of the Union address in January. (Photo By Al Drago/CQ Roll Call)

President Barack Obama is moving to fill vacant positions for federal agency watchdogs even though they would only spend a short time overseeing his administration.

Obama in recent weeks nominated inspectors general for the Energy and Commerce departments, as well as the National Reconnaissance Office. There are a total of 11 vacancies , according to the Project on Government Oversight, which contends that IG audits and investigations identify waste, fraud and misconduct.